A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(78)

“Thanks, Vampire. We’ll be fine.”

“You and Zack.”

She swallowed. No, not her and Zack. Zack would have Lily. Assuming . . . She looked up. “I can’t leave without Lily.”

“You must. Kassius will free the girl. And when she is free, she will know how to find you, yes?”

“Yes.” Lily knew Zack’s phone number. And if worse came to worst, she could always find him through the gaming sites they frequented.

She took the bite of potato salad and tried to swallow it past the fist in her throat. Because it wouldn’t be her and Zack. Not once Lily was free. The two of them might go anywhere, probably to California as they’d planned.

And what would she do?

“Quinn.” Arturo watched her with a softness that bordered on sadness. “Is there anyone else? Anyone other than Zack?”

She didn’t need pity, dammit. “I’ll be fine.”

He just watched her, those dark eyes probing, assessing. Slowly, he lifted his glass. “To tomorrow’s success, then. And to new beginnings.”

He was in a strange mood.

She ate until she was full, devouring twice what she normally would have. Surprisingly, there was still food left over. “Your turn.”

But he shook his head. “You’ll need the rest later. The magic must be fueled.”

Apparently, he was right.

As he sipped his drink, he studied her. “What other abilities do you suppose you might have?”

Quinn thought about it. She knew of one—the dark bubble she’d accidentally trapped the werewolf alpha in. As a kid, all she’d ever really done was push her stepmother a couple of times.

A sick knot formed in her stomach as she thought of the kid she’d almost killed in high school. A shiver went through her at the memory of that horrible day. It shouldn’t have happened. It shouldn’t have been able to happen. Except she knew better, now, didn’t she? She’d been a sorceress, even then, if a barely functioning and wholly clueless one. That was the day she’d lost all her friends.

“What are you thinking, cara? They are not happy thoughts.”

She shook her head, not wanting to discuss it. She’d never discussed it. And yet, maybe it was time. If there was anyone who would understand, it was Arturo.

She took a deep breath, feeling the anguish of that day, the horror of it, all over again. “It happened when I was in high school.” She leaned back in her chair.

“You did not know what you were.”

“I didn’t, no.” It was strange to think back, to try to see her entire life through a different lens. She’d never been who or what she’d thought she was. She’d never, in fact, been weird, not for a sorceress. But knowing that didn’t ease the misery of that day.

“I was a good athlete,” she began, wanting him to understand who she was back then. “I played on the girls’ basketball team and ran on the track team. I had a lot of friends. Casual friends, probably, but I was well liked. I belonged. My best friend, perhaps my only true friend, was Owen. We’d known one another from the time we were in first grade. We’d climbed trees, made forts beneath his parents’ picnic table with old blankets, and swum on the neighborhood swim team together. Even in high school, we were best friends, hanging out whenever we could.”

Quinn crossed her arms, pulling them tight against her body as the hurt of the memory spread through her. “Four of us were hanging around in the locker area after school one day, waiting for track practice, when we heard a fight around the corner and went to investigate. The two boys . . .” Her breath caught, remembered anger and fear pressing against the walls of her ribcage. “One was a punk rumored to be a gang member. The other was Owen.”

Arturo said nothing, but he watched her intently, hanging on her every word, and she continued.

“We all ran over, ready to defend our friend, but Owen didn’t need help. He was a big kid and was winning. Until the ass**le pulled a knife.” She dug at her lip with her teeth, looking away, feeling the burn of tears. “I was so angry and so scared. I acted without thinking, Turo.” She glanced at the vampire through the moisture in her eyes, then away again. “I grabbed the punk’s arm, wanting to stop him, wanting to kill him. Five seconds later, the knife fell from his hand. Two seconds after that, he collapsed.”

She was shaking, now. Why was she shaking after all these years?

“I think my eyes were glowing. Someone said something about that as they all backed away from me like I’d turned into a three-headed monster. Someone called 911, and the punk survived. The adults chalked it up to an undiagnosed heart condition, but the other kids wouldn’t come near me again. Even Owen. I felt so guilty, so . . . evil. I knew I could have killed him. I knew it.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No, but I could have. I almost did.” She looked at him through a blur of tears. “How? How did I do it?”

For a moment, he said nothing. “You possess a very powerful gift.”

Quinn snorted. “A dangerous one.”

“Yes, though likely far less dangerous against immortal beings.”

She thought about that. Vampires weren’t likely to succumb to her touch, whatever it was. Was it wrong she felt relieved about that? She didn’t want that gift.